Judah Benjamin
On of the most interesting personalities of the Civil War was Judah Benjamin of Louisiana who held the posts of Attorney-General, Secretary of War and later Secretary of State in the Confederate government cabinet. In spite of his being a politician of Jewish origin at a time of rampant antisemitism, Benjamin interacted with a number of Presidents, many of whom greatly admired his talents.
Benjamin was born in 1811 on the island of St. Croix. Both of his parents were of the Jewish faith. His father was from England and his mother was from Spain and therefore Benjamin was born an English citizen. He emigrated to the United States at the age of 2 with his parents, who then lived in North Carolina. He attended Yale University but did not obtain a degree. He practiced law in New Orleans where he became a prominent commercial lawyer.
In 1842, Benjamin was elected to the lower house of the Louisiana State Legislature as a Whig. A decade later in 1852, Benjamin was selected by the state legislature to be a U.S. Senator. He was the second Jewish senator, after David Levy Yulee of Florida, who was elected by his state legislature in 1845.
President Millard Fillmore offered to nominate Benjamin to fill a Supreme Court vacancy after the Senate Democrats had defeated Fillmore's other nominees for the post. He became the first Jewish-American to be formally offered a Supreme Court appointment, but Benjamin declined.
While in the Senate, Benjamin challenged Senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi to a duel over a perceived insult on the Senate floor. Davis apologized, and the two began a close friendship. In the senatie. the abolitionist Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio called Benjamin "a Hebrew with Egyptian principles" because he had been a slaveholder and now represented slaveholders' interests. Benjamin replied, "It is true that I am a Jew, and when my ancestors were receiving their Ten Commandments from the immediate Deity, amidst the thundering and lightnings of Mt. Sinai, the ancestors of my opponent were herding swine in the forests of Great Britain."
In 1854, President Franklin Pierce offered him nomination to a seat on the Supreme Court, which he declined for a second time. Benjamin resigned his seat in the senate on February 4, 1861, after Louisiana seceded from the Union. He went on to hold three cabinet positions for Jefferson Davis: Attorney-General, Secretary of War and Secretary of State. In the latter position he arranged a loan from a Paris bank to the Confederacy in 1863, which was the only significant European loan of the war.
Benjamin wanted to draw the United Kingdom into the war on the side of the Confederacy, but it had abolished slavery years before and public opinion was strongly divided on the war. In 1864, as the South's military position became increasingly desperate, he devised a plan to emancipate and induct into the military any slave willing to bear arms for the Confederacy. Robert E. Lee supported the scheme as well, but it faced stiff opposition from conservatives. The Confederate Congress did not pass the measure until March 1865, by which time it was too late to salvage the Southern cause.
Benjamin was able to flee the country at the end of the war. He was rumored to have masterminded the assassination of Abraham Lincoln through the Confederate intelligence apparatus, but according to Benjamin's biographer, Eli Evans, no evidence for this assertion has been found by historians. He went to England where he became a distinguished barrister and was given the honorary title of Queen's Counsel. He retired in 1883 on his doctor's advice and moved to Paris, where his daughter Ninette and three grandchildren lived. He died there on May 6, 1884, and was buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery.
Benjamin was born in 1811 on the island of St. Croix. Both of his parents were of the Jewish faith. His father was from England and his mother was from Spain and therefore Benjamin was born an English citizen. He emigrated to the United States at the age of 2 with his parents, who then lived in North Carolina. He attended Yale University but did not obtain a degree. He practiced law in New Orleans where he became a prominent commercial lawyer.
In 1842, Benjamin was elected to the lower house of the Louisiana State Legislature as a Whig. A decade later in 1852, Benjamin was selected by the state legislature to be a U.S. Senator. He was the second Jewish senator, after David Levy Yulee of Florida, who was elected by his state legislature in 1845.
President Millard Fillmore offered to nominate Benjamin to fill a Supreme Court vacancy after the Senate Democrats had defeated Fillmore's other nominees for the post. He became the first Jewish-American to be formally offered a Supreme Court appointment, but Benjamin declined.
While in the Senate, Benjamin challenged Senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi to a duel over a perceived insult on the Senate floor. Davis apologized, and the two began a close friendship. In the senatie. the abolitionist Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio called Benjamin "a Hebrew with Egyptian principles" because he had been a slaveholder and now represented slaveholders' interests. Benjamin replied, "It is true that I am a Jew, and when my ancestors were receiving their Ten Commandments from the immediate Deity, amidst the thundering and lightnings of Mt. Sinai, the ancestors of my opponent were herding swine in the forests of Great Britain."
In 1854, President Franklin Pierce offered him nomination to a seat on the Supreme Court, which he declined for a second time. Benjamin resigned his seat in the senate on February 4, 1861, after Louisiana seceded from the Union. He went on to hold three cabinet positions for Jefferson Davis: Attorney-General, Secretary of War and Secretary of State. In the latter position he arranged a loan from a Paris bank to the Confederacy in 1863, which was the only significant European loan of the war.
Benjamin wanted to draw the United Kingdom into the war on the side of the Confederacy, but it had abolished slavery years before and public opinion was strongly divided on the war. In 1864, as the South's military position became increasingly desperate, he devised a plan to emancipate and induct into the military any slave willing to bear arms for the Confederacy. Robert E. Lee supported the scheme as well, but it faced stiff opposition from conservatives. The Confederate Congress did not pass the measure until March 1865, by which time it was too late to salvage the Southern cause.
Benjamin was able to flee the country at the end of the war. He was rumored to have masterminded the assassination of Abraham Lincoln through the Confederate intelligence apparatus, but according to Benjamin's biographer, Eli Evans, no evidence for this assertion has been found by historians. He went to England where he became a distinguished barrister and was given the honorary title of Queen's Counsel. He retired in 1883 on his doctor's advice and moved to Paris, where his daughter Ninette and three grandchildren lived. He died there on May 6, 1884, and was buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery.